First off, I do
actually talk about my career and entertaining things
that pertain to "The Journey" in this entry. Don't get
all whiny 'cause I'm gonna talk about another goddamn
house for an entry. This whole "Journey" thing will be
back on track soon.
Now...
Your heart has no
place in business man. "Listen to your heart" "Follow
your heart", means shit if you're trying to make a
smart financial move.
Unfortunately, I
keep listening to my heart.
So Jess and I
found yet another home. A home that is most likely not
worth the asking price, but we want it. REALLY want
it. The others were nice, but this one is it. The
neighborhood is amazing, didn't even know it existed
in North Hollywood. The streets instantly seem like
home (back east). Nice big residential
streets...actual room. A back yard, detached garage.
It would be a normal $150,000 home in Columbus. Out
here, it's $250,000. LOL. The problem is, the house is
a fixer-upper. In fact, that's the only thing keeping
it from being $300,000. It needs work. The rest of the
neighborhood looks very nice - and it's obvious the
appreciation in 3-5 years could be incredibly high.
So we low-balled
the bid, got laughed at, and then added a bunch to it.
We're still under the asking, but very, very close.
Either way, business-wise we should've just stayed at
the lowball bid and seen what happens because we're
still the only people to offer anything in the week
it's been on the market. But we didn't. We jumped it
up just so we don't get shafted by some bid out of
nowhere that eclipses us by $1000. It's scary really.
We are really pushing the limits now of what we can
feasibly pull off. We find out in exactly 24 hours,
whether or not they'll accept it, counter it, or just
say screw it and wait for a better offer. Apparently
the seller thinks it's worth at LEAST his asking price
and more. It isn't. But time will tell.
Then the fun part,
building inspector and appraiser. You get to see what
it's really worth. In the furthest thing from fair -
we get to pay $300 for a building inspector to see if
this seller was full of shit, and another $300 for an
appraiser that is basically our middle man with the
bank. If there's something wrong with the house - you
get to back out of the contract which is good, but
you're out the $300. Then - lol - if the appraiser
doesn't think the house is worth what you agreed to,
the bank won't loan you ANY of the money. LOL. At
which point of course you can haggle with the seller,
and as well he's in a bad position too - 'cause his
house isn't worth what he thought. In the end these
are all safeguards to protect you, but it doesn't make
it any easier...
...or less
stressful. Seriously, this has to rank up there as one
of the most stressful things I've ever been through.
Jess and I are straight-up losing our minds. I always
thought the finances were what was stressful about
buying a house. Nope. Not even a little bit. That's
simply a decision you make before you go into it. The
stressful part is all this shit. The stupid
anti-negotiating game. I mean seriously, why can't we
all just sit down over dinner - and work this shit
out? Why on earth do we have to "guess" on a bid- and
then if you're wrong, you can't even ammend it if
someone else already bid higher? HUH? It's also all
because of this wacky-ass town. Only in LA or New York
can you have a 1 story, no basement, 2 bedroom house
in a "good" neighborhood run you 1/4 Million. But the
bottom line is, you look at it as an investment. The
other houses in that area are asking for $325-$350.
It's obviously going to appreciate with work to the
house. It's an absolute no-brainer: if you can pull it
off - you invest in real-estate on some level in
California. Period. It's better to be "House Poor"
than "Apartment Rich" any day. And that's exactly what
we'll fuckin' be if this goes through. Heh.
Ok, back to the
career: T2 - The Trinitrons & Adam. How much did
the Valentine's show kill me? Not at all. Guys, in a
period of 36 hours I wrote the whole friggin' first
draft. It was incredible. I hit the greatest writing
streak of my life. It all just came together. The
thing is done. What's left now are certain lyrics,
certain jokes, certain exchanges that need to be
refined - but that's the fun part. The hard part is
getting the shape of the story done, and amazingly I
pulled it off. I love the script. It's absolutely fun
as hell. I really couldn't be happier with it. There's
a few things that I did that in order for it to work,
I'll "REALLY" have to pull some shit out of my ass
editing and performance-wise, but that's what I did on
the first one and it worked perfect. Like G's rapping
in the first one. Yeah, it looks all good now - but I
sure as hell was nervous that I may have written
myself into a hole there as a performer. When the hell
have I ever RAPPED? If that angry part didn't come off
geniuine - it really would've hurt it - but it worked.
That was a total "whew". It was the writer in me
forcing the performer in me to a new level. I've done
that a few times here too. As a writer, when you get a
good idea, you don't throw it away because the talent
can't hack it. You write it and find the people to do
it. Heh, in my case - that's me. So I'm pushing myself
because the script demands it. It's pretty cool
actually, so let's just hope I can pull it off.
As far as a
time-table for it, this house thing is really weighing
on us right now, and it's gonna depend on that. If we
get the house, we'll be out of our apartment by May
1st. The show will HAVE to be done by then. I want to
use the apartment. If we don't, it may get pushed a
bit - but I believe having it all shot by the end of
April is totally do-able. Man, the juices are really
flowin' again. It's incredible. I have to say,
concentrating on Plan B (job, house) in 2003 may have
been the smartest thing I've done since I've been out
here. It's opened the rest of me up so much.
Therapeutic to the utmost degree. It's still
astounding to me how much Charlotte was able to tear
down. When did I become such a pussy? How the fuck did
I let someone rip away all my confidence? HOW?
Thank GOD this job
is going incredibly. I've made a successful business,
much better. Improved the practice nearly 15 patients
a week, things are just rollin'. I enjoy coming to
work, I enjoy being part of something successful. And
whenever I begin to take pride in it I realize...duh.
That's what I've always done. I just forgot that in
2002. On any project I always put in a shitload of
work and make it become as successful as possible. It
doesn't matter if it's working the Thanksgiving Rush
at Boston Market, running a Dr.'s Office, or writing a
one-man show. That ability is INSIDE you. It's how I
operate. I had to "re-learn" that about myself. And
it's taking a long time. I haven't spoken to Charlotte
in a year, and there still isn't a day that goes by
that I don't second-guess myself now because of the
things she said. Incredible. It's obviously getting
better as I grow to ignore the voice and just get the
job done - but it's still in there. And it will be
until I pull something off. Amazing huh? Heh, this
Adam Kontras kid is an interesting study in psychology
ain't he?
Also, please keep
a Mr. Ron Gamble in your thoughts. He's an long-time
Late Show Listener, and avid-supporter of all my
endeavors. Even made the 2 hour commute to my show in
September back in Columbus. He's recovering from
(ready for this?) quadruple-bypass heart surgery, and
he's in his early 30's. He's doing very well
considering what he's been through, but it's just such
a scary scary thing and I've been thinking of him
quite often. It's one of those odd moments when you
want to write some words of support and encouragement,
but all you're thinking is: "PLEASE DONT DIE MAN".
Heh. So Ron, uhm...yeah get better. Hang in there. And
be thankful this happened early as opposed to 30 years
from now. You'll recover much quicker, and it will be
the start of a healthy lifestyle for the future.
Heh. So asking you
guys to pray for us to get this house tomorrow at 9 PM
seems a little pathetic now doesn't it? LOL. Yeah, it
is. Perspective is everything sometimes...
Adam
Oh,
and I resisted taking video of the
house and street for pure superstitious
reasons. If we're in tomorrow night - you
better believe there will be video. But
for now, just watch an incredible ending
in my Xbox Live league. Down by 8, 3
seconds to go at my OWN 24. I throw a
76 yard TD, and then the receiver drops
the goddamn 2 point conversion. It's just
sickening. He was wide-open.
Ahh well.
